It randomly occurred to me when I first posted on this site. And now the 12th anniversary is approaching. On February 7, 2012, I wrote a short text about a woodpecker. I photographed it on a dry burdock stalk. At first I wasn’t sure if it was a woodpecker. A lot has changed since then. WordPress now gives you many new publishing tools. It’s now easier to create a variety of posts. Observations of nature bring quite sad forecasts. There are fewer and fewer birds here, which especially visited us in winter. Despite often unfavourable conditions, I try to publish current information about our nature

  In January we have a real weather swing. The first two weeks saw heavy snowfall. There was frost, but mild, below -10 degrees. Next week, there was snowfall all day long. Then it’s just thaw and thaw. Now, at the end of the month, snow lies where there were huge snowdrifts. The temperature is around zero. I took some photos during this changeable weather. You can compare the views. These winter sunny days are beautiful. It’s nice to go for a walk. It’s less interesting during cloudy and windy weather, but you have to go out to breathe fresh air.

It’s been real winter here for a few days now. It’s even below -20 C at night, and there’s quite a lot of snow. There were a few sunny days. Wonderful winter views by the river and in the forest. There hasn’t been such weather for a long time. There will probably be changes soon. We should appreciate what happened this winter. It’s only the first decade of January and many winter phenomena lie ahead of us. This is a difficult time for drivers. There are problems with cars and the road is slippery. It’s worth being prepared and careful.

Meanwhile, we feed tits and other birds outside the window. They really like shelled walnuts. Let’s hope they survive the winter easier. Here are photos of winter landscapes taken yesterday. Today it would be more difficult, the weather is changing.

click on the photo thumbnail

    The title of the post rhymed somehow. Sunday December 17; cloudy and drizzling, all snow melted. We are going to the forest near the village of Romanówka. The forest consists mainly of oaks, hornbeams and, in some places, spruces. There is a lot of cut wood lying around to be transported. We hear a shot and then see the hunters. They are preparing venison for the holidays. We drive further and start walking through the forest. The forest road and the soil in the forest are heavily waterlogged. It’s quite hard to walk. A deer appears in the distance for a moment (it escaped from the hunters). There are no birds in the forest. We notice winter mushrooms here and there. They are often very colourful and have very interesting shapes. The surface structure is also sometimes surprising.

   The smartphone allows you to take quite good photos. The growing mosses are lush and bright green, and some have even bloomed. We only covered 5 km, but in such conditions it is quite an effort. Coming back along the road, we meet a lonely predator and a few ravens. Below are some photos for those who prefer to stay in a warm room.

     We are experiencing a period of very changeable weather. There are strong winds and it rains all day long. There have been no frosts so far. Lots of foggy mornings and even entire days. Finally, mushrooms appeared here too. Various species can be found and always healthy. It’s very pleasant to walk in the forest. There are few mushroom pickers. You can observe deer from a distance. Time passes nicely when you come across interesting mushroom specimens.

  There are a lot of old trees in my town. These are mostly linden trees over a hundred years old. There are lots of holes large and small. Various birds and owls nest there. We have tawny owls.I’ve been watching them for many years. In the evenings, they call while sitting or flying from tree to tree. Observation with binoculars is possible. Unfortunately no photography. Only when the young leave the hollow, because during the day you can take photos of satisfactory quality. There used to be more of these birds. I take pictures in the last days only for the female and her young.